Oh the pain! Oh the pain! That was running through my head the entire ride on this, and heck this thing even made me scream for all the wrong reasons. Well it was a walk-on and the only thing that got me on this torture device. Like everyone else, the restraints were what killed this for me. They were extremely tight and every inch I gave the restraint, it went down even further. I remember them being bad on the one at Great Adventure, but not this bad (then again I rode that one many years ago). The cycle wasnt overly long thankfully and the swinging leading up to the inverting provided some mild sensations that were the highlight for me. However, then it started going upside down and the pain began. All my blood rushing to my head combined with being compressed like a pancake is not fun, but hey if you like that sort of thing ride this.

I would just like to take a moment and congratulate the Phoenix for being the WORST FREAKING RIDE at Busch Gardens. Here is my reason why. Right off the bat, I hate these kind of rides. Hanging upside down does not entertain me the slightest bit. And the worst part (as most of the other reviews have stated) is, this ride will squeeze the life out of you. Every time I ride this piece of crap, I literally feel like im having sex with two fat woman and Im Squished right in between them like a hamburger Pattie. I mean this ride will hurt you to the point where you just want to get off of it, take a match and gas, ignite this piece of crap and burn it to the freaking ground. The only reason why the Phoenix is getting a two from me is because it is slightly intense and does a good job of delivering that slightly intensity. But other then that..I cant say anything positive about this attraction. One last thing that really pisses me off, is this ride lasts forever. I have never actually timed it, but Im sure this ride lasts at least over 5 minutes. 5 Minutes of pain and torture and all kinds of crap. Dont waste your time riding Phoenix. It may look like fun but its not. It sucks! Avoid it!

This turned out to be my favorite flat at Busch Gardens. The restraints hurt more on this one than they did on others, but the ride itself was better than most. The rides cycle was average length and I got plenty of swings and I was held upside-down for pretty long periods of time, which got painful after a bit because of the restraints.

I am actually writing this review based on a long ago experience, since I was not positive I had been on this. At one time i found these to be hilarious but as I aged the ride just became painful. That is how i remembered this version as the ride that actually got me to stoip riding these once popular attractions. My last ride in all was on the version at SFGAM where they absolutely stapled me in on a 95 degree day then took forever to get the ride going. I should have quit with this less then killer performance.

This is an extremely physically demanding ride. When it hangs upside down at the apex of the ride, you get a blood rush to the head and you have to hold your body in the harness. The harness, BTW is the heaviest OTSR I have ever seen; it is at least twice as heavy as a normal one. Overall, the ride is like a swinging boat but it goes all the way around. It is rather thrilling but for some people, pain will over-ride any fun. The Min. ride height is 48", but I wouldnt recommend this for anyone under 10 at least.

This ride is borderline torture for someone of my height. I dont know how the shorter people can tolerate it (Larrys short, listen to him LOL) but when suspended upside-down the pressure of my weight pressing on the shoulder restraints is hard to handle. These rides never really thrilled me to begin with, though this one didnt hurt as much as the heap of scrap metal that once was the Looping Starship. When a ride starts out with uncomfortable restraints, I guess I shouldnt expect it to get any better

I hate this thing. It is the worst ride of its type that Ive been on. First, I sit down looking at the crappy restraints. Then they come down and crush me for like 5 minutes before it starts. The the ride is slow, boring, and just plain hurts. I think it should be replaced with a better ride of its type.

I love this ride! Being stopped upside down is a great feeling. Its funny to watch people drop their change and it mysteriously falls - up. Otherwise, its a great ride, lasts just the right amount of time.